Bronco Nation Travel Logs: Bronco Knoll

There are some special places in the history of Bronco. The Romeo and Arizona Proving Grounds come to mind, and more recently the home of Bronco Driver Magazine’s Bronco Super Celebration event, the Tally Ho Inn in Townsend, TN. Communities are held together by stories, and an important part of any story is the setting. So, when Bronco Nation member #702 (AKA @Cooppierce, in the forums) posted an Easter egg that he’d documented on the 2021 Ford Bronco that included a set of coordinates, Bronco Nation member #185 (AKA @Torgsurv, in the forums) got curious about what setting Ford seemed to be pointing to. There couldn’t be a better person to find the remote spot, since Torgsurv (AKA Blake, in real life) is a surveyor.

In the original thread, Blake had already figured out that the coordinates were in Johnson Valley, the home of the famous King of the Hammers off-road racing event. From there, he put together a Round Up to see if anyone would be interested in exploring the spot with him. Covid and California being what they are, he didn’t get any takers, though several Bronco Nation members and users offered encouragement. He pressed on anyway, as any good Bronco owner would.

In my conversations with Blake in the lead up to his trip, he was confident that he wouldn’t have any trouble getting to the spot, since he was taking his ’91 Bronco to Johnson Valley to investigate the coordinates. He’d also thoroughly reconnoitered the location on Google Earth. Located on BLM land about 500ft above the surrounding valley, it can be accessed by a rough 4×4 trail. On New Year’s Day, he made it.

The exact spot of the coordinates didn’t have much to show, just a rocky overlook at the top of a hill. However, the view, overlooking where the reveal footage for the 2021 Ford Bronco was filmed, is great. To memorialize the spot, Blake put up a cairn, a pile of stones used to mark a trail or special spot in wilderness areas. We’re going to try to make it up there when we head to Johnson Valley for King of the Hammers later this month, and we hope to see you at the event.

Blake named the spot Bronco Knoll and, if you get a chance to go, you can add a stone to the pile. There are plenty around.